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Lib Dem Voice has been conducting a survey today of party members registered on our members’ forum asking them for their views of the coalition government agreement betwen the Lib Dems and the Conservatives. Well over 550 have responded, and here’s part one of what you’ve told us …

LDV asked: How do you rate the perfomance of the Lib Dem negotiating team in reaching the agreement with the Conservatives?

A whopping 95% of party members who responded to the survey, therefore, viewed the Lib Dem negotiating team as either effective or very effective – including a number of those who still disagreed with the coalition agreement anyway. Only 3% believed the team had played their hand poorly.

* You can read in full the comments of party members in response to this question in our discussion forum here.

LDV asked: Which of the following statements best describes your own view of the prospect of a Liberal Democrat / Conservative coalition government:

22% – “I am excited and optimistic. This is a real chance to create a new politics and prove the Lib Dems are a serious party of government.”

53% – “I am excited but nervous. There are big opportunities, but there is a very real risk to the Lib Dems.”

19% – “I recognise this was the only realistic outcome. I wish it all the best, but will wait and see how the new government does before coming to a conclusion.”

3% – “I am disappointed that we have gone into coalition with the Conservatives. I think we should have stayed in opposition with a minority Conservative government.”

An interesting spread – some 75% of party members appear to be enthusastic about the coalition agreement to some degree; 19% view the agreement as inevitable, but are going to wait and see before passing judgement either way; while 7% of party members are disappointed with the deal, including a small minority who are considering leaving the party as a result.

* You can read in full the comments of party members in response to this question in our discussion forum here.

We will be releasing the result of the question ‘If you were able to vote, would you choose to support the motion proposing the Lib Dems enter into a coalition government with the Conservatives?’ later.
Lib Dem Voice e-mailed the survey to over 1,200 party members registered on our members’ forum on Friday. As of 12 noon today, 556 (c.45%) had responded. Please note: we make no claims that the survey is representative of the Lib Dem membership as a whole. Indeed, the survey seems skewed towards male party members living in the south of England. However it is the largest survey yet published of the views of Lib Dem members.